Supermarket plans approved

Northumberland County Council’s planning committee have approved the application submitted by Northumberland Estates and Tesco to build a supermarket on Braid Hill. At the meeting on March 3rd, planners gave the green light for the proposed development of a 30,000 sq ft supermarket with 200-space car park.

41 conditions were applied to the reserved matters application, which include restrictions on building procedures, environmental matters including landscape, lighting and noise levels. There are also restrictions on services offered inside the supermarket; there is to be no pharmacy, no photographic developing and no dry cleaning facility.

Opening hours will be restricted to between 8am and 10pm Mon – Sat, 10am – 4pm on Sundays, with deliveries resticted to between 7am and 9pm Mon – Sat and no more than two deliveries on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

12 Comments

Yet again the self serving duke of northumberland gets his way and in the process not only destroys the braid but will put in jeopardy the livelihoods of the people who run shops etc on the high street.

I agree it is a good idea. I travel to get my monthly shop as I could not afford the prices in Amble for all my needs. Also thnking about the price of fuel we need somehting on the doorstep. I hope they have a shoe department to stop the over priced monopoly in Amble.

Most people agree that a supermarket is a good idea – it’s the location that really annoys me. Re the comments about fuel prices, again I agree but it was interesting to read in the Gazette that the the Cliffwell Garage in Amble has the lowest fuel prices around! And as for shoes, if you already travel once a month to do a large shop then you can buy shoes then…? One of the sanest arguments I heard is about putting the supermarket in the south of the town (there’s a large patch of unused land on the industrial estate which could be easily accessed by the larger vehicles that will be necessary to serve this new store). How on earth do we expect HG vehicles to cope with either Beal bank or the Wynd during winters like the one we’ve just had? And another good idea: if we had a smaller more regular shuttle bus that did a circular route around the town to ferry passengers this would help everyone, including tourists, to access the new store whilst protecting what makes Amble special. It strikes me that the poeple of Amble welcome Tescos but the process and planned location is “getting people’s backs up”.

Sited where it is going to be can only be good for Queen Street. Good car parking which is easily accessible to the street for the more specialised shopping that the Tesco supermarket cannot offer. (Small unique shops as Dzl calls them)

If Tesco were sited on the Industrial Estate then people from Warkworth and Hadston would just be on the outskirts of Amble, and therefore be less likely to come down onto the street from there.

Saying this though, all this talk of Tesco being on the industrial estate is pointless because the industrial estate was never an option!

I am all for Amble getting a much needed supermarket, why it has to be on this area though is very sad indeed, I don’t live in Amble now but remember (just) when the marina was built, It fits in well with the land and the history of that part of town, A supermarket ther though will spoil this beautiful corner of Amble, especially when building it on the industrial estate would have attracted more investment and jobs to the town. I can only hope that the small unique shops can remain competitive when Tesco comes to town.

OK, this is not the site I would wish the new store to be built, still think the industrial estate is the best option. But at the end of the day this is an excellent prospect for the town. Let’s accept the decision and move on.

Will Amble Boat Club and the Coquet Yacht club be taken over next?????
All these little boats provide yearly mooring fees to Warkworth Harbour Commissoners with no expenditure to them.
What happens to the access roads????
I would have thought that the 2 CO-OP stores and the 1 Tesco (ex CO-OP) would suffice Amble needs???